Friday, September 12, 2014

Futuristic Friday: Robocars

California will allow automakers to begin testing self-driving cars on public roads on Tuesday. Don't start your engines just yet though, robots. There are a few things that have to be done first.

The law requires companies to register with the state before they can test their cars, including identifying the specific make, model, model year, vehicle identification number, and license plate number of each vehicle to be tested.

Every car must have a driver sitting in the driver's seat during testing, who can take over control of the vehicle should something go wrong. Only drivers who have been identified to the DMV in writing can operate the cars, and those drivers must have clean driving records and have completed a training program established by the manufacturer.

Once those requirements are met, companies must pay the $150 license fee and secure a $5 million insurance policy. You can read all the rules here.

Google has been one of the pioneers when it comes to self-driving cars. If you want to learn more about how these cars are programmed to handle things like construction on city streets, check out the video below.